Just want to post about the Irish Sinn Fein MEP Bairbre De Brun, who was on last weeks EU delgation to Gaza. Bairbre was one of the first to enter Gaza after the genocide in March 2009. She talked about that experience upon her return last March, a report on her recent visit last week follows after:

And here are her reasons for returning, followed by her report of the 3 day journey and outcome:

link Speaking from Brussels before leaving for Gaza, Ms de Brun said:"The fact-finding delegation will visit Gaza on Friday 14th and Saturday 16th January in order to see conditions there, to see what progress has been made with regard to reconstruction since the Israeli air strikes last year and to assess barriers to progress

"There have been worrying reports from Gaza in recent months and a number of delegations have been refused entry to Gaza by the Israeli government.

"The world was told last year after the horrendous damage, injury and loss of life that major reconstruction efforts would be launched immediately. Twelve months on we need to see those promises fulfilled.

"The siege of Gaza must end and there must be free movement of people and goods so that the people of Gaza can rebuild their lives."

Here is what she blogged on the trip and I have included phtos that I took of various events on the trip:

12 Members of the European Parliament from 4 different political groups took part in the most representative parliamentary delegation ever to visit Gaza.

The delegation also included members of regional and national parliaments from 12 countries all over Europe, and consisted of nearly 60 members in total. They succeeded in entering Gaza from Egypt through the Rafah-crossing.

The purpose of this fact finding-mission was to gather information about the humanitarian situation in Gaza, under siege since the 2006 elections.

The mission included talks with members of the Palestinian Legislative Council and representatives of local NGOs in Gaza, the Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Secretary General of the Arab League and the speaker of the Egyptian Parliament in Cairo.

The mission was organized by the European Campaign to End the Siege on Gaza (ECESG), the umbrella body of thirty NGOs across Europe, and was headed by Sir Gerald Kaufman, MP.

Day 1:On the plane now from Cairo to Brussels with several MEPs including Nessa Childers and Aidan O Sullivan from Nessa's office.Further up the plane I see German MEP Helmut Scholz and Portugese MEP Marisa Matias, while Borris Zala MEP from Slovakia sits across the aisle from us. He speculates about what the situation will be like on the ground in Gaza.

British MEP Richard Howitt reminds us that other delegations in recent times have expected to get into Gaza but haven't managed at the last minute. "We're not in until we're in" he says. How right he is.

This morning in Brussels we had a meeting of the European Parliament delegation for relations with Palestine where the chair Proinsias de Rossa gave an account of that delegation's visit to Palestine in December and the u-turn by the Israeli government which had given them visas and then told them at the last minute that they would not be able to enter Gaza.

They spoke of the very serious situation on the West Bank with expulsions of Palestinians and the continued building of settlements.

There is some discussion about the present talk of re-starting negotiations and the Palestinian representative in his presentation to the delegation members spoke of the importance of halting all settlement building.

Israeli statements about not sharing Jerusalem is also an issue for people at the meeting and there is some welcome for the EU Council statement of 8 December that the EU will not recognise any changes to the pre-1967 borders including Jerusalem other than those agreed by the parties.

I gave the meeting some information about our European parliamentarians delegation to Gaza this week and promise to give an account of our visit on our return.

It is now 10.30 at night. We have arrived at Cairo airport and met up with delegates coming off the other flights. Among those on the flight from Heath row are Jeremy Corbyn, Claire Short and the leader of the delegation Gerald Kaufmann. There is a great buzz as people meet old friends and acquaintances. The logistics of moving a group this size from place to place will be quite something.

There are some very impressive buildings on the journey in from the airport but they pass by in a haze. Cairo speed limits or the lack of them are quite something also.

Tonight we soak up the atmosphere of Cairo and of meeting the other delegation membersTomorrow morning first thing we leave for Gaza.

Day 2:After less than four hours sleep we set off from Cairo to make the long journey through the Sinai desert to get to the crossing point into Gaza.

We stop on the way and there are more introductions. - some national parliamentarians from Greece, from Poland and from Switzerland.

Majed Al-Zeer of the Palestinian Return Centre tells us he was born in Bethlehem but has not been back to Palestine since 1967.

Rafah is partly on the Egyptian side and partly in Gaza. People cannot go from one to the other without prior permission and this depend on the decision of the Egyptian government.

Even this VIP delegation has waited 2 months for permission to enter Gaza through Rafah.

Now we have arrived and we have been told in advance that crossing at Rafah should go smoothly and that there should be no long delays in getting into Gaza. It takes an hour and a half and then the delegation enters.

As we go in Omar Faris who has accompanied the Polish parliamentarians that he is a Palestinian who has never set foot in Palestine before. It is an emotional moment for him. He was born in a tent on the Golan Heights between Palestine and Jordan and lived in other countries since then.

The delegation is received by the deputy speaker in Gaza. At the press conference he says he hopes the visit by the European Parliament will be followed by a visit by the Arab League.

Gerard Kaufmann talks of the suffering of people in Gaza. He says. The oppressed people of Gaza must have their voice in the world.

'We shall report back to our parliament and our government on what we see and what we learn on this visit. We will be your voice but we will not replace your voice' he says.Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

Meeting with Prime Minister

Presented with letter of thanks from Prime Minister

day 3:This morning I visit Isbit Abd Rabu for the second time.

I visited here one year ago with a group of MEPs after the Israeli offensive. I was horrified and shocked by what I saw then, as I wrote in my blog at that time. I am anxious to see what has changed in the lives of the people here since then.

We talk to a man whose extended family lost 13 houses and whose son was killed in the air attacks. "Our children don't have clothes, decent education, or food. ", he says

He talks of how this area was a most beautiful area before the bombardments. Now there are destroyed houses and a destroyed mosque and nearby the factories, fields and olive groves have been destroyed also.

A woman tells us that the main thing people need now is to rebuild their houses. Because so many people lost their homes it is now also very difficult to find somewhere to rent.

I am very disappointed at the lack of progress in rebuilding and reconstruction. Much of the rubble has been cleared but there is little evidence of progress otherwise.

All the talk of donor conferences and reconstruction is pointless if people do not see change on the ground even after one year. Part of the process of recovery from such trauma is the physical re-building. Here the international community has not made that happen, and people here feel abandoned.Hopes have been raised only to be dashed again.

Some attempts are being made by local people but rebuilding is very difficult without the necessary materials and these are blocked by the siege

She also met with another Irishman, John Ging from UNWRA:

Here is her report via interview following last weeks visit follwed by the press release from Strasbourg:

12 Members of the European Parliament* from 4 different factions took part in the most representative parliamentarian delegation ever to visit Gaza.The delegation further contained members of regional and national parliaments from 12 countries all over Europe, and consisted of nearly 60 members in total. They succeeded to enter Gaza from Egypt through the Rafah-crossing.

The purpose of this fact finding-mission was to gather information about the humanitarian situation in Gaza, under siege since the 2006 elections.

It included, amongst others, talks with members of the Palestinian Legislative Council and representatives of local NGOs in Gaza, the Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Secretary General of the Arab League and the speaker of the Egyptian Parliament in Cairo.

The mission was organized by the European Campaign to End the Siege on Gaza (ECESG), the umbrella body of thirty NGOs across Europe, and was headed by Sir Gerald Kaufman, MP.

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